Poster #66 - Ethnic Variations in the Process of Child Mastery Motivation Socialization

• In Event: 3-106 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Section - Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Integrative Statement

Purpose: Since young children’s mastery motivation for learning new skills and controlling their environment is related to later academic success, social functioning (Bae et al., 2014), and psychological well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000), it is important to investigate how child mastery motivation is socialized in the family context. Each family’s cultural context defines the shared values, norms, and beliefs within a group, which shape child-rearing goals (Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2008), parenting beliefs, parenting practices, and the meaning of parenting behaviors (Bornstein, 2009). Yet cultural variation in the process of mastery motivation socialization has not been studied. The current study aims to reveal the mechanisms of socializing young children’s mastery motivation in family settings, through investigating how children’s mastery behaviors in a challenging task are affected through both the direct impact of parenting behaviors and indirect impacts of parental education. Further, to investigate ethnic variance in this process, the current study compares the commonalities and differences in the relationships between parents’ education, beliefs, and behaviors among three ethnic groups within the United States: African-, Hispanic-, and European-American families.
Methods: The sample is drawn from Early Head Start Research and Evaluation (EHSRE) study. Child mastery behavior (persistence) and parenting behaviors (supportiveness, intrusiveness) were measured in puzzle games at 3 years of age. Parenting beliefs (autonomy-supportive beliefs and authoritarian beliefs) were measured through Parental Modernity Scale (PMS) at 2 years old We used Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify the relationships among parental education, parenting beliefs, parenting behaviors, and child mastery motivation. Then, we used multi-group SEM to test model equivalence across ethnicities.
Results: Parental education affected parental behaviors (supportiveness, intrusiveness) in problem solving contexts both directly, and indirectly through parenting beliefs. Also, parenting beliefs influence child persistence indirectly, mediated through parental behaviors (Figure 1). Further, multi-group SEM showed that the effects of parental education on parents’ autonomy-supportive parenting beliefs, and the effects of parental intrusiveness on child persistence in puzzle game tasks, vary across ethnic groups (Figure 2).
Conclusion: The study identified mechanisms of socializing child mastery motivation in family contexts: parental education affects child mastery motivation socialization by promoting autonomy-supportive childrearing beliefs and subsequent autonomy-supporting behaviors when children are actively working to solve problems, while decreasing authoritarian beliefs and intrusiveness. Further, parental supportiveness might have stronger power than negative parenting behaviors in socializing child mastery motivation because it mediates the influence of parents’ general childrearing beliefs on children’s mastery motivation development, which implies that a strength-based approach to coaching parents may be sufficient to enhance child mastery motivation. Furthermore, the family process of mastery motivation socialization varies across ethnicities: parental education increases parental autonomy-supportive beliefs in African- and Hispanic groups, but not in European American families, which implies culturally specific services for parents who aim to improve children’s mastery motivation and persistence in the face of challenges.

Authors

• Wen Wang, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Claire Vallotton, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ryan P. Bowles, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author